WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – The Ephs fell to rival Dartmouth today in a nail-biting 5-4 loss. The Dartmouth team is currently ranked right above the Ephs at 11th in the country, and despite the loss, the Ephs fought hard and played extremely well against a very tough team.
The match followed the three-court system, with Caroline Hogan (#9), Ellen Coombe (#6), and co-captain Nicole Feshbach (#3) up first. Coombe started out strong, winning the first game, and then only dropping one game before winning the match in a tie-breaking fourth game. Feshbach came back from a 1-0 deficit to win 3-1 and capture another point for the Ephs. Hogan had an extremely tight match, taking her opponent to five close games and losing 14-12 in the fifth, making the overall score 2-1 to the Ephs.
Next on court were co-captain Lily Grant (#8), Esther Baek (#5), and Hayley Parsons (#2). Parsons dominated from beginning to end, finishing off her opponent in three quick games. Grant and Baek fought very hard, having extremely tight games, but both falling in four, making the overall match score 3-3.
Last up were Charlotte Walsh (#7), Ananya Mahalingam-Dhingra (#4), and Nicole Friedman (#1). Friedman played extremely well and came back from losing the third game to finish her opponent off 3-1. Walsh fought hard but fell to her opponent in three games, making the overall score 4-4. Mahalingam-Dhingra came back from a 2-1 deficit to capture the third game, but eventually fell in the fourth 13-11, making the final score 5-4 to Dartmouth.
Co-captain Feshbach had this to say about the match: "We had an extremely close match tonight. Unfortunately, we were on the wrong side of the 5-4 loss, but I couldn't be prouder with the effort and fight everybody showed. Our team has improved so much this season, and I think these two weeks of training before nationals will only help continue our growth. We are ready and excited for the B division this year and definitely have a chance to take the cup."
Head coach Zafi Levy commented, "It was a great night for Williams squash. The women's team had a great showing tonight. Although we lost we played some incredible squash. I am proud of the girls and their fantastic effort tonight."
The Ephs will travel to nationals at Yale the weekend of February 26th.
INDIVIDUAL SCORES TO COME.
